Natsuki the Vampire Slayer: Juliet's Poison
by KumoOokami
Summary: NtVS:3 An old friend reappears, but time changes everyone.  Some more than others.  Is it ever really too late to save a friend?  AU/OOC  multiple pairings
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: Posting this earlier than I was planning on, due to a generally craptastic day. As always the characters and universes don't belong to me and I'm not getting paid in anything but readers and reviewers. I can't believe how many people have stuck with this long story, I'm really lucky to have such dedicated readers who leave such well thought out reviews, many of which really help me think about this story in a new way. I hope you all enjoy this next leg of our journey.

_Juliet's Poison_

Sapporo, Hokkaido Japan; December 1998

Sapporo was easily the largest city here on the northern island of Japan, though it was nowhere near as large as the huge, sprawling metropolises on the main island of Honshu. But here in a dirty paved lot that housed some of the most rundown warehouses in the industrial section of the city, surrounded by huge smokestacks and just a few blocks away countless high rise buildings, one would be hard pressed to imagine that cities bigger than this could exist. Sapporo was hardly the typical Japanese city though, especially in this part of the city with endless blocks of nondescript and Western-style buildings. The streets were only haphazardly cleared of snow that was piled up high on the sides of roads in desperate need of repairs, covering the sidewalks and making pedestrian traffic at best treacherous. The once pure white snow had been shaped into slushy, disgusting piles covered with soot from the smokestacks of industrial plants that choked the air with heavy ash as they manufactured steel, paper, and any number of basic products to help fuel Japan's industries. If it wasn't for the occasional sign with kanji, it would be easy to imagine that this was Detroit.

The shy winter sun had already set, but it was barely four in the afternoon and the large steel plant located across the narrow street from the abandoned warehouse was still in operation. The loud clanging of metal and the raucous laughter of the many men who worked there carried easily on the cold night air. Lime green eyes narrowed as they stared out of the newly fallen darkness at the old brick and cement building, seeming brilliant even without any streetlights or moonlight, their colour unexpectedly clear and healthy compared to the gaunt face they inhabited. Nao Yuuki shook with hunger, cold, and a seething hatred as she pulled her worn and oversized men's coat tighter around her painfully thin body, unsurprised when she felt no warmer from her efforts.

Nao thought she was fourteen but she couldn't really be sure. Time seemed to all run together since she'd been living on the streets. Sometimes it seemed to pass so slowly, especially in the winter when the nights were longer than the days and time between meals seemed to drag on. When the nights were the longest the cold would sink into her bones so deeply that she couldn't fall asleep for fear that she might never wake up, and somehow it always seemed to be winter here. But there were times when she would realize that whole seasons had passed mostly unnoticed, years gone. When she was first trolling the streets for food older women would take pity on the small child with her faked crocodile tears, often inviting her into their homes for the night for a warm dinner, a bath, and a bed to sleep in... Though Nao would always sneak out before sunrise, not wanting for them to call the government's child services so that she could be put up for adoption.

After all, Nao could count the number of people that she had met and liked on one hand, and her mother was the first of those. Nao would die herself before she gave up on her mother, even if she never... Nao let out a disgusted sigh, her breath condensing into a thick cloud and curling around her, momentarily obscuring her view of the factory lights. It had been years since the last time Nao's mother had spoken to her. The woman had been in the city hospital in an unchanging coma since Nao was four. For a few years after that things had been tolerable, a low paid caretaker funded by the government looked after her in her mother's home and Nao went to preschool same as always. But she was seen by the teachers there as a troubled child, always getting into fights and completely uninterested in her lessons. For two years they recommended holding her back from starting primary school, hoping against hope that the unfortunate girl's situation would improve. When she turned six her life finally seemed to be getting back on the right track. She met a new kid at preschool, a kind girl named Natsuki whose willingness to befriend the sullen and reticent Nao had finally revived the young girl's flagging interest in the world around her. Nao's teachers were hopeful that their troubled student might at long last be able to succeed in school.

These days Nao was convinced that whenever things started to look like they were going good, that was when the shit was really going to hit the fan. And that year, even compared with all of the years since, had been one of the worst. That autumn just as the second session of school started, Nao's already tenuous life began to fall apart completely. First one day, completely without notice, Natsuki had stopped coming to school. Nao was left with only hushed words spoken between her teachers about an accident to give her any clue as to her only friend's fate. A month later a government review finally decided that Ms. Yuuki wasn't going to be coming out of her coma anytime soon. With 'great reluctance' they concluded that it would be best for Nao's future if she were put into the foster system to be adopted by a stable family so that the government wouldn't have to keep spending taxpayer money on Nao's care. Unfortunately, or maybe inconsequentially to the huge government bureaucracy, Nao had overheard the government stooge's conversation with her kind and underpaid guardian about her mother's change in status. The way Nao heard it those heartless bastards were giving up on her mom. Nao swore then and there that she would _never_ give up on her mother. That same night she had packed her small backpack with as many clothes and snacks as she could, and snuck out the front door onto the street while her guardian slept.

Her first four years had been easy, although she hadn't realized it at the time. She spent her days hunting the streets for things to steal; food, clothes, and money. She'd thought herself so clever that she always got her mark and never got caught, but she knew now that she hadn't done anything special, people just let small kids get away with stuff. Those first winters she rarely needed to spend a bitter cold night on the hard streets; with her small and skinny frame, long strawberry red hair and big green eyes, she found it easy enough to charm single women with maternal instincts to spare into taking care of her for a few nights. Then her years of easy living began to work against her, she was well nourished enough for her young body to start to develop some womanly curves. At first she had been excited about finally starting to grow up, but she soon realized that it wasn't a blessing. Once she no longer resembled a helpless child those same women who had been so eager to offer her help before, now eyed her with suspicion if she approached them, even if they would still occasionally offer her enough yen for some food just to make her go away.

Those next couple of years had been the hardest. For long weeks during the cold dark winters she wandered the mostly empty streets, constantly hunting for her next meal in a desperate race to give her always hungry body enough fuel to stay warm so that she could survive the seemingly endless nights. At first she had been relieved when all of a sudden men, who until that year had mostly ignored her hungry requests for a few yen to buy some lunch, were suddenly much more eager to offer her help. But she had quickly learned that unlike the kindly women of days past, they weren't offering to help her out of the goodness of their hearts. Sure she did sometimes run across the occasional older man who would simply offer her some money and admonish her to 'get a job', mostly though they didn't care if she found herself gainful employment. They just wanted her to earn her money 'helping them out' a little bit. She hadn't immediately known what that phrase meant... It seemed like a reasonable enough request the first time she'd gotten into a middle aged man's car, but when he'd driven her to a deserted unlit parking lot and unzipped his pants, she finally realized its meaning with nauseating clarity.

Nao was starving that night and hadn't eaten in days, but even at twelve she had too much pride to allow anyone to use her that way. She bided her time, contriving to look shocked at his request. A shy virgin who just needed to be properly convinced of the benefits of pleasuring this kind man for money, even as her eyes desperately darted around his dirty car, searching for something she could do to turn this situation to her advantage. It had taken all of her willpower to keep her lips from forming a wicked grin when she'd seen his wallet resting on the car's dashboard, in easy reach if he was distracted enough. And judging from the way his eyes were rolling back in his head from his own fisting of his hardened manhood, he was already pretty distracted... but she still couldn't be certain that she would have enough time to grab the wallet and make a clean getaway. Her painfully empty stomach had rolled with another round of nausea as she realized what she would have to do, all the while swearing to herself that she would never let it get this far again. From now on she wasn't ever trusting anyone again.

The man had finally grown impatient of trying to coax her into willingly touching him, and had grabbed her hair painfully in his large hairy fist, lowering her head closer to his dirty organ. If she could have she would have vomited all over him. The disgusting smell of sweat and urine overpowered her sense of smell and taste, making her eyes water. But she forced down her disgust, keeping her mind focused on the prize and the not quite satisfying revenge she would soon have. The moment he forced his engorged organ passed her lips, she bit down. Hard. The taste of the blood spurting from his rapidly shrinking appendage almost something she wanted more of, his pain making her feel better in ways she couldn't explain. But she still spit the blood out in his face, feeling no pity at his strangled yell or the tears of anger and pain rolling down his wide cheeks. She didn't wait another second for him to recover. Grabbing his wallet off of the dashboard and forcing the rusty passenger side door open she fled out into the dark night, quickly darting into a narrow alleyway and praying to any gods or spirits that might exist that he would be in too much pain to follow her. Despite how far things had gone, Nao knew she had been lucky. That man had been careless; she might not get a break like that again. After spending a small amount of the money in the man's full wallet on some food, she invested the rest of it in insurance to prevent anyone from taking advantage of her ever again. She had wandered to a nearby back alley pawnshop and spent more money than she'd touched all year buying two wickedly sharp knives and some cans of mace. She wasn't going to waste any more of her time assuming that people were going to be kind to her. From now on any man who thought he was going to be preying on an innocent young girl was going to unexpectedly find that despite his advantage in strength, he wasn't the predator.

Over the next year she had begun hunting. She learned how to pick a good mark. Usually drunk and out of shape middle aged office worker types who would piss themselves when after following the pretty young girl who was probably younger than their daughters into a dark alley, she pulled a huge knife on them and demanded they give her all of their money or she'd tell their bosses and families what they'd been doing. That had been a great year for her. Cash had flowed to her like water. She invested some of it in nicer clothes, a heavier coat and boots, and some low cut shirts to show off her small breasts that stood out proudly from her otherwise rail thin frame, the points of her nipples clearly visible under the thin fabric were always more than enough bait with which to lure her victims. She only bought one change of clothes that looked different, a nice cheerful pink t-shirt and a pair of baggy jeans that she carried around inside a heavy trash bag in her now threadbare backpack so that they wouldn't get dirty. She only wore them one day a week, changing into them in the hospital's public bathroom after she'd tried her best to wash up in the sink, before sneaking carefully down the hallway to the long-term care ward to visit her always sleeping mother. Any money that she had leftover from the previous week's hunt would be left in an envelope crafted out of used paper, with a simple note written entirely in hiragana with black marker, urging the person who found it to use it to help make her mother better. She always visited at different days of the week and different times of day so that she wouldn't be caught by the staff.

This year though, she'd finally started to lose her hope that one day her mother would wake up and all of this would be better. She never gave up on her mother, but she was starting to doubt that she would ever be able to live in the world of humans again when she had spent so much time on the outside hunting them down. Slowly she shifted her targets, no longer focusing on easy marks, old out of shape drunks who feared her turning them in. She started hunting burly construction workers and healthy young single men leaving strip clubs, bitter angry guys whose girlfriends just broke up with them and were looking for someone to take it out on; all of them eager to take advantage of such a young and attractive girl, and easily strong enough that she wouldn't be able to resist their advances if she slipped up even once. But taking down a target bigger and stronger than her was thrilling, and these days it was the only thing she looked forward to, the only thing that made her feel truly alive. Even though each hunt took longer and she found herself going more days in between meals such that her small breasts were now the only scraps of fat on her gaunt body, she still couldn't turn back. This hunt had turned into an addiction, and only her next opportunity to show some asshole what it was like to suffer like she did made living to see another day worth the trouble. She still visited her mom every week, leaving her the now much smaller envelope of cash, but her mother's unchanging sleeping expression made it more and more difficult for her to convince herself that any of it even mattered. And what if her mother did wake up? Nao wouldn't want her to see what her daughter had become. She knew that her intense bitterness and hatred of the human race as a whole would probably cause her poor mother an unbearable amount of guilt. No... It would be better if she thought that Nao had been put up for adoption after all, even if the hardened strawberry haired teenager would rather die than live under the roof of some stranger.

A screaming gale of icy wind drew Nao back to the present, her starving body shivering uselessly against the cold as she wondered if she'd finally pushed things too far. When was the last time she'd eaten again? Suddenly there was movement in the empty lot between her warehouse and the factory, but the figure barely lit by the lights from the factory seemed so out of place here that Nao rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was already hungry enough to start hallucinating. It had happened to her a few times during the years before she'd learned how to hunt, and she hated to think that she'd let herself get to such a state again just because she was too proud to hit a weak mark when the pickings on the wrong side of town got too slim. The figure was clearly male, but at the same time he seemed as different from the beefy steel workers who frequented this area as Nao was. He was very tall and dressed in all black clothing, a neatly tailored long leather coat wrapped around a leanly muscled frame with long shoulder length hair as dark as the night draped over broad shoulders, only his pale skin standing out in the dim lighting. His walk was elegant in a way that Nao had never seen from a man before, seeming to glide over the dirty and cracked cement like an otherworldly apparition. Nao felt her breath catch when she realized the figure was approaching her, and she wondered what a person who was obviously wealthy could want with someone like her. Another biting cold wind cut through her threadbare coat, and the hunger pains that shot through her middle were so strong that she could no longer stand on her own, leaning heavily against the cheap metal siding of the warehouse and just breathing deeply of the burning cold air until the pain faded enough that she could focus her senses on something other than her basic survival to the next moment.

If she had been less hardened by her long years on the streets, she would have screamed aloud when she saw the mysterious man now standing only a few feet from her, staring down at her with a look of fascination and amazement on his pale and handsome face. His features were strong, but seemed slightly gaunt and hungry in a way that she could see would make most people not trust him, yet there was almost a kindness and understanding of sorts in his mysterious eyes as he studied her silently. And his eyes... she'd never seen anything like them before. They were blue, but they were so dark that they seemed barely lighter in colour than the midnight sky, and even though he didn't seem to be looking at her like someone who wanted to take advantage of her, Nao could still feel them look right through her into her very soul; a thought that made her feel a wave of grief for herself as she wondered what could possibly be left of it for him to see. Lime green eyes narrowed dangerously as they stared up at the beautiful man; just because her instincts weren't immediately warning her about him, that didn't mean she was giving him a pass. After all, Nao hadn't survived the streets this long by trusting people. "What the hell do you want?" She asked harshly, disgusted by how quiet and girlish her voice sounded, as though her body was far too weak to put any real force behind her words.

"I have been watching you." He replied simply, his way of speaking as elegant and soothing as the rest of him, his Japanese heavily accented in some way that made the syllables flow together more smoothly than she'd ever heard the language spoken. His soft tenor seemed to almost wrap around her in a comforting way, causing her to stiffen and summon what little strength she had to stand up straight and step away from the wall, putting some distance between herself and this strange man. "In all the many years that I have travelled the nights, I have never seen such a magnificent creature of the darkness as the one that stands before me."

The words touched something inside Nao, the part of her that fuelled her desire to hunt down her fellow human beings so ruthlessly night after night, making her want to trust this person who seemed to understand her so well. She growled angrily to herself, what the fuck was her problem tonight that she trusted some strange man who'd spoken only a few words to her? If she let her guard down it would only lead to her getting fucked... she eyed the tall male thoughtfully. _Though at least he's pretty enough... _She sighed softly. She was so hungry, and she could tell by the way he held himself that this man was a professional fighter; she certainly wouldn't be taking anything from him that he didn't want to give her. _Maybe just this once. At least he smells clean and he seems interested in me as something other than just a few warm holes._ Still she wasn't about to let him know what she was thinking, though now her rudeness was mostly because she didn't know how to handle kindness."What the hell do you mean, 'creature of the darkness'? I'm just a friggen street kid. We aren't that hard to find."

"Hmm... the humans do seem to allow many of their offspring to fall between the cracks. It has always been that way though... it's difficult to make humans care about things that don't affect them." He gave her a charming smile, taking a confident step towards her though he made no move to touch, correctly assuming she would view such liberties unfavourably. "But you are not one of them. I have seen it in your eyes as I've watched you. Their eyes are dull, they have given up. But you... your eyes burn with the anger you feel, and your hatred for the ones that you hunt down like the lesser beasts they are... it is beautiful and pure, powerful in its intensity. Never have I seen its like in such a small human girl, I have been truly blessed to have discovered such a treasure."

Nao felt her tired heart beating faster at this man's strange compliments, almost without a thought she took a step closer to him, noting with confusion that even this close she could feel no warmth from his strong body at all and he was standing so still, it was as though he wasn't even breathing... _Maybe I really am losing it. _Suddenly the loneliness that followed her in all that she did seemed stronger, and she knew that part of her body was giving up. If something didn't change soon she would probably be dead before the winter was over, with no one to mourn or even know of her passing. Her dark and self-pitying thoughts again ignited her anger and contempt for the humans around her, who went on living their lives as normal because Nao meant nothing to them. _Fuck them all. I wouldn't care if they all died either._ She glared up at the tall man defiantly her weak and tired tones still maintaining an edge of hostility and bitterness, "Watching me? What do you want with me old man? I don't have anything."

"Ssh... you do not have to give me anything that you do not wish to beautiful Nao." He said soothingly, causing her tired muscles to tense as though to flee, even though the simple thought of running seemed to take enough energy to make her almost collapse on the hard ground. How could he know her name? She hadn't spoken it aloud since before she ran away to live out here alone on the streets. "I simply think that you and I have a lot to offer one another, and it would please me greatly if you would be willing to dwell in my household for a time."

Nao didn't know what to think. _He wants me to live with him..._ The words didn't seem to make sense. She could still feel her pride chafing at the idea of having to rely on someone else, and she certainly didn't trust his motives to be purely charitable. _But he definitely has money... and I'm so hungry. So what if he wants to fuck me every night, at least I wouldn't be so cold all the time. And he's definitely more attractive than any of the losers I rob and leave hunched over in a dark alley bleeding and cursing my existence._ Still she stood her ground, studying those dark eyes that seemed to look into her and beckon her closer, not wanting to just give in. "You want me to live with you?"

He smiled again but there was something less kind about it this time, it was more predatory though his words remained soothing, "Only if you want to. I would never force you into anything. I only wish to offer you a chance to explore the darkness of who you are. To allow you to fully become the powerful and beautiful creature you already are on the inside."

_He's so into me._ Was all she could think, despite his slight change in attitude. After all, Nao herself wasn't really into soft and sentimental feelings. Somehow his show of deviousness conversely made her trust him more. And he wanted to get to know the real her, and she wondered if his touch could give her what she'd been missing all of these years, the feeling that maybe her life mattered to someone. Finally she nodded firmly, careful to keep her voice defiant as she replied. "Okay."

"You have gifted me with the most exquisite pleasure beautiful creature." He grinned as he reached out his large leather gloved hand to her, showing no hesitation as though he knew that the standoffish girl would no longer recoil at his touch. She grasped his strong clean hand in her own that was thin, calloused and covered in dirt from the street, walking beside him with as much confidence and energy as she could muster as they slowly made their way out of the industrial complex, towards a large black vehicle that was obviously far too expensive to be parked on this street. As they approached she could see the shadowy figure of a hired driver in the front seat, but the lighting was too poor for her to make out more than his silhouette and once more she wondered why a man of such means would be taking any interest in someone like her. When they reached the vehicle he stepped ahead of her and let go of her hand so that he could hold open the heavy door to the back seat, something that no one had ever done for Nao, at least not since Natsuki. For a moment Nao simply stood there frozen in place, not sure how she should react to such a gesture; once more studying him with suspiciously narrowed green eyes, though the loud rumbling of her empty stomach dampened the ability of her stare to intimidate even one of her usual victims, much less this confident man. _What is wrong with this guy that he's being so nice to me?_

As though he heard her worries aloud, the mysterious man again showed her his predatory smile, his clean white teeth shining faintly, "I promise not to do anything that you do not want me to. You are free to leave whenever you like. If at any time you feel uncomfortable, just tell me and I will have someone drive you back to the city immediately."

Nao didn't do much to acknowledge the man's apparently kind words, but she still slowly moved forward and climbed into the spacious backseat of the town car, eyeing the tall dark man suspiciously all the while, her heart hammering in her chest in panic as he glided into the seat next to her and soundlessly shut the door behind himself. Without a word spoken by the man, the driver put the vehicle into gear and began carefully steering the large vehicle out of the industrial neighbourhood and onto one of the main streets, apparently heading out of the city. As much as she hated this place Nao felt her empty stomach turn in fear, because she had never left this city and as bad as her life here had been, it was the only place that she knew. If the man decided not to honour their agreement, how would she have enough energy to make it back to the only place she knew? Nao swallowed harshly, her throat painfully dry as she tried to speak, "Um... what's your name exactly?" She asked, realizing that she knew nothing at all about this person she was entrusting her life to. Even with the little value she placed in her own survival lately she could hardly believe her stupidity. And what about her mother?

The man simply watched her calmly, seeming to remain deliberately unaware of just how frightened Nao was with her new situation, "My name is Dracula." He answered simply.

Nao nodded, willing enough to believe that was his name; after all it was obvious he was a foreigner. After a few more moments of her not saying anything she realized he was staring at her expectantly, as though he thought she should have reacted in some way to his name. _Oh crap, is he like some famous guy that I'm supposed to know or something? Fuck. I hope he doesn't just drop me off on the side of the road to starve. _Frantically she thought of something to say, "Um... it's a nice name. I don't uh... I've never been able to afford the movies, and I can't read. So it's not your fault that my lame ass hasn't heard of you."

She startled when he actually laughed, his easy melodic chuckle caressing her ears, "Ah, I am sorry Nao. I have always known that I have a bit of a... flaw, in that I have a large ego. I simply like for others to know of my exploits. I am sure that you can understand. You are constantly testing your wits and skill against men older and stronger than you, surely there is part of you who wishes that more people could know of your ruthless cunning. How would you feel if the sound of your name uttered amongst those unworthy humans caused them to shake in fear, to look behind them in their shadows to make certain that they have not been followed?"

Again Nao felt his smoothly spoken words stir something within her, and she felt the spark of life that had been waning in her these last few days slowly flaming up again as she thought of hunting the streets. How would she feel if there were men who recognized her and cowered at her passing by, knowing that they were no match for her? "You're right. I'd love for those bastards to see me coming. I love it when they piss themselves in fear once they realize my knife is inches away from ending them, but if just my name was enough to cause that fear... That must be an amazing feeling." She said happily, finally speaking freely around the strange man.

This time when he smiled at her, some of the edge was gone, and he reached out to tenderly run a gloved finger down the side of her thin neck, "Patience my sweet Nao. We will be at my home soon enough. Why don't you rest for a bit? You will need all of your strength for later, but I promise you when we're done, you will have what it takes to make those pitiful creatures fear you like they should."

Nao felt herself shivering with eagerness at his words, wanting so badly to experience his touch. But despite her intense excitement, his voice was powerfully suggestive, and his soothing tones and the luxurious warmth of the car's heater soon made her fall into a deep and unmoving sleep.

MH-BtVS

Nao wasn't sure how much time had passed when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and heard Dracula's smooth voice in her ears urging her to wake up because they had reached their destination. She yawned slightly as she opened her eyes, noting that it was still night out. Not that she was surprised with how long the nights were this time of year. She gazed lazily at the attractive man who was still sitting on the spacious seat next to her smiling at her indulgently. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so rested, it had been years since she had been able to sleep without constantly startling awake, due to the very real fear that someone would try to attack her in some way while she had her guard down. "We're where?" She asked sleepily, seemingly unable to look away from Dracula's deep blue eyes long enough to take in their surroundings.

Dracula grinned again, apparently knowing the effect his gaze had on Nao he deliberately turned away from her and gestured out the window on his side of the vehicle. "My home." He said the words like they were no big deal, but Nao's jaw dropped when she saw the huge stone castle. She hadn't known that there were buildings like that in Japan, but then she'd never seen much more than the ugly industrial buildings or modern steel high rises. "Come, let us go inside so that you can warm up a bit more." He said cheerfully as he swung open the backdoor and climbed gracefully from the car, waiting for Nao to scramble out awkwardly after him.

As she followed him up the steep snow dusted stone stairway and into the grand entrance way of the castle, Nao found herself momentarily forgetting her intense hunger as she took in Dracula's amazing home. Even this small part of it was more beautiful than anything she had ever seen. The floors and walls were covered with green plants, some of which had sweet smelling delicate white flowers blooming, making Nao wonder the last time she'd seen so many plants in once place that weren't weeds. In the centre of the large entry way was a large bubbling stone fountain, the water gurgling cheerfully over the pebbles in its basin cleaner than the water she had tried futilely to wash herself with a few days ago. All around her there were intricately woven tapestries and delicate expertly crafted bits of metalwork covering the floor and hanging from the spacious walls, each surely worth more money than Nao could imagine. She felt out of place but the way everything was warmly lit with wooden torches made the cavernous room feel almost homey, and she couldn't guess what could possibly happen here that would make her want Dracula to take her back to her dirty street corners.

Despite her wonder at her surroundings, she still felt some disquiet rumbling in the depths of her stomach when he grabbed her hand and lead her up a long staircase and she realized he was probably taking her to his bedroom. _Wow. I guess he doesn't want to waste any more time getting to the main attraction._ She thought nervously, even as she wondered how she would have enough energy to satisfy his needs when she was still so weak from hunger.

Her heart was beating faster than she thought possible when they finally reached the end of a seemingly endless stone hallway and he eased open a heavy wooden door to reveal a large bedroom. It was definitely decorated to masculine tastes, but the huge bed with its soft dark coloured blankets, thick rugs over the hard stone floors, and even the large dark wood furniture made the room feel safe and welcoming. Or it would have felt that way if she wasn't so nervous. "Go ahead and make yourself comfortable." He said softly indicating the large bed with a sweep of his hand, "I have some things to attend to first, but I will be back very shortly." He bowed formally to her, and then turned and casually glided from the room, leaving Nao alone in this strange new environment.

As soon as Dracula had left the room, Nao suddenly became even more aware of how large and expensive everything in his home was, especially when compared to the dirtiness of her old clothes and haphazardly washed body. It was so much warmer in here than outside, and she could feel her sore and tired muscles that always seemed to be shivering these days finally relaxing, but she still huddled close against a bare stone wall next to the door, pulling her coat tight around herself for some protection against the feelings of nervousness and inadequacy that were so foreign to her. _What if I'm not any good and he kicks me back out on the street before I even get a meal out of this? _She shivered again despite the warmth of the room at that thought, closing her eyes against the still persistent gnawing pain.

Her eyes snapped open again when the heavy door creaked open again, signifying Dracula's return. "I am sorry about that, but I had to impress on my servants that they are not to interrupt us. Some of them have the most unfortunate tendency to show up where they are not wanted." He explained sounding sincerely apologetic for keeping Nao waiting, causing her to shift her weight in her worn boots nervously. "Well go ahead and get comfortable. Don't worry about getting anything a little dirty, I can have it cleaned later." He said encouragingly approaching her so that he could take her coat to hang on the brass hook on the back of the door.

Nao swallowed hard, feeling naked without the thick shapeless wool to hide her bony frame from Dracula's piercing eyes, but she steeled her courage and walked over to sit on the bed, slowly loosening the double knots in her boots so that she could remove them for the first time in days, followed quickly by her threadbare socks that were almost more full of holes than cloth. However when she finally reached for the hem of her shirt to start stripping more thoroughly, Dracula surprised her by placing a firm and unexpectedly cold hand on her shoulder. He had removed his gloves to reveal more of his pale skin, which was softer and smoother as it brushed against her than her own ever was and she sighed happily at his kind touch even as she stared up at him in confusion. "Why did you stop me? Do you want me to keep it on for now or something?" She asked self-consciously, wondering if she had starved herself so much that a sophisticated man like Dracula wouldn't be able to look at her naked body and still maintain his arousal, suddenly uncomfortably aware that these days she was almost boyishly proportioned.

""Ssh, sweet Nao." He soothed her gently rubbing her shoulders that were always tense, clarifying what he wanted from her in a soft voice, "Do not mistake me, you are a lovely girl but for that… well you are a bit too young for my tastes. What I want to share with you isn't my body."

Nao stared up into his blue eyes, still so weary even as she tried to make sense of his words, "I don't understand. What else could you possibly want from someone like me?" She asked gesturing to her body, her voice full of disgust as she continued, "This is all I have to give you."

"I do not wish to take from you, I want to experience who you are. I want to share with you... my blood." He said simply, his predatory smile returning as he brought his own wrist to his full pale lips, easily puncturing a large vein with one of his elongated canines. "Drink of me sweet girl, taste the darkness in me. Your own recognizes it I know. I have seen you hunting men, a mere human girl you are and yet you are already such a delightfully vicious creature of the night. You will make a lovely daughter for me." His voice became deeper as he spoke these words to her, and his eyes seemed to pierce further into her soul as he sat down on the bed next to Nao, holding out his steadily bleeding wrist to her. Large drops of the thick, nearly black, purplish liquid splashed onto the dark fabric of the bedspread.

Nao stared up at him with wide lime green eyes, now really confused about this guy, but suddenly more fearful of doing something he didn't want her to do... and even if it was a strange request she couldn't see the harm in doing what he wanted. _And it's hardly as though this would even rate in the top ten of disgusting things I've put in my mouth to survive over the years. _Hesitantly she moved her hands to grasp his lean arm, raising his wrist to her mouth and taking an experimental lick of the dark liquid, surprised that it seemed almost colder than the warm room. But the taste was strong and rich and her empty stomach needed something in it even if this was all she would be getting. Shyly shutting her eyes against his intense stare as he watched her small pink tongue lapping the blood flowing from his wrist, Nao continued to hesitantly take small tastes of his blood. Each cool droplet that she swallowed strangely making her feel warm and comforted inside. Her stomach rumbled eagerly for more, and she carefully bit down on his pale wrist to encourage the blood to flow faster before she closed her lips over his soft skin and began drinking down the dark liquid more quickly.

Dracula smiled proudly as his new Childe suckled strongly at the source of his power, a power that would soon be hers as well, her blunt human teeth nicking gently at his skin in a way that was almost endearing to the vampire. _My sweet little girl, you're going to make me so proud. _He waited patiently for long moments as he watched her, knowing that she was weak and that he would have to be very careful or he might end up killing her before she drank enough. While Dracula didn't hesitate to kill most humans, he knew that this was a creature who deserved a chance to rule the night. After a few minutes of drinking Dracula's powerful blood, Nao was gripping onto his wrist more firmly and making soft pleasured noises as she drank, the feeling of her stomach finally being nourished after so many long days was nothing short of euphoric. Seeing the frail girl's renewed strength, Dracula leaned in slowly and carefully sunk his long fangs into the large vein on her thin neck, making sure not to puncture it too much and cause his weak girl to bleed out before she had taken in enough of him. He held her close, rubbing her back soothingly as she cried out in pain, pausing in his drinking long enough to quietly urge her to keep drinking his blood from his wrist.

Nao didn't really see how drinking his blood could replace the blood that his cold lips were slowly suckling from her neck, but still she kept swallowing down his offering. The cool thick liquid splashing easily down her throat at first seemed to sate the worst of the hunger that had been gnawing away at her stomach for days, and his strong arm wrapped around her and holding her close to his cold body made her feel suddenly warm in a way that she never had. Long slow minutes passed and they continued to drink from each other, Nao revelling in the tender touches Dracula was giving her, the feeling that she was important to this strange man in a way that she had never been to anyone.

After they had been sharing each other for what seemed like hours, Nao began to feel a burning inside despite Dracula's cold fingers and lips on her skin and the cold blood that she was still drinking from his wrist that now filled her belly. At first she couldn't understand what the feeling was, but then she realized that he had been drinking blood from her for so long. Even she knew that she couldn't possibly have much of it left to give him, but he still kept drinking from her neck occasionally biting down harder to encourage her blood to keep flowing. The pain from his teeth was now dull and distant in a way it hadn't been before. With startling clarity she realized she was dying. Still, even if she was dying, this was the best night she'd had in years. At least she wasn't slowly starving or freezing to death alone in a dirty alley somewhere. This man who was killing her had been more kind to her than anyone since Natsuki all those years ago. A part of her wished that she weren't dying a virgin, that this beautiful man had been willing to at least fuck her once before he used her like this; but another part of her, perhaps the darkness in her that he said he could feel, the darkness that made her love hurting her victims more than she loved the money they could provide… That part of her thought that his blood inside her, and his sharp teeth making love to the now only slowly flowing vein in her neck must be better than sex. As her heart fluttered desperately to pump her dwindling supply of blood, time began to flow differently in a seemingly endless slow crawl where she felt herself simply hovering on the precipice of oblivion.

As she stared into eternity, she was surprised to see face of her childhood friend Natsuki in her mind's eye. She hasn't seen the girl in years, but as she grew weaker she remembered how when they were just kids, Natsuki would always save her from the bullying of cruel children who for whatever reason thought it was funny that Nao's mother never came to pick her up from preschool. Sometimes when she didn't even realize the dark haired girl was within sight of her, the younger girl would come charging in between Nao and her tormenters just in time to save her. For a moment she had the foolish thought that maybe Natsuki would once more crash through the door to stop this before it was too late. She laughed internally at her weakening mind's last whimsy, since as she knew Natsuki died all those years ago. She remembered clearly crying for weeks, not even talking to anyone for almost a year after overhearing her preschool teacher talking about the accident, how the body of Natsuki's mother was found washed up on a beach near one of Japan's many notoriously dangerous cliff-side highways. They never found Natsuki's body, but no one could imagine how a small girl could have survived an accident like that. And even if by some miracle Natsuki were alive, what could even a brave girl like her do against this man drinking from her, who Nao was now quite certain was not human. Suddenly she found that her eyelids were heavier than lead, and even as she struggled to keep them open her vision darkened and blurred, her brain no longer having the oxygen required to process the faint light in the room streaming into her eyes.

He felt the small girl in his arms becoming weaker, leaning against his chest more heavily as she lost the strength to hold her own body's weight. His dead heart contracted strangely as he felt her thin body struggling desperately for air, having forgotten just how fragile his new Childe would be before she changed. Dracula carefully withdrew his fangs from her spent vein, raising a cold hand to tenderly brush aside a lock of sweaty strawberry red hair as he laid her out comfortably on the large soft bed. For a moment he simply looked at her, marvelling at how small she seemed, and how beautiful. Her big lime green eyes stared blankly up at him, her chest rising and falling much more weakly now. Unable to resist a sudden surge of affection for this creature who had given him such an amazing gift, he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Ssh my sweet child, my Juliet, rest now. Daddy will see you again in the morning." He murmured softly to her, laying down next to her and holding her close to his cold body as lime green eyes fluttered shut for the last time.

MH-BtVS

_Am I… alive?_ Was the first thought that floated into Nao's slowly waking mind. It nagged her with confusing persistence as she opened painfully dry eyes, blinking as they burned from the light provided by a small sliver of bright sunlight painting a narrow broken pattern on the stone floor of the large bedroom. For the last couple of years Nao had been something of a creature of the night, but this morning the cheerful rays of sunlight streaming through the break in the heavy curtains over the window invoked a primal fear in her that she had never felt before. Her second thought before she had time to wonder much about the first or her unusual fear, was that even including those times living on the street when she had gone days without food, she had never been this hungry. Or was she thirsty? It was hard to tell, but the constant intense pain in her throat and stomach would probably be completely unbearable if she hadn't been so used to being hungry. Nao gazed around the room, somewhat surprised to find it empty, and for some reason the memories of how she had gotten here in the first place were missing. For long terrifying moments she feared that somehow she had slipped up and been taken advantage of by one of her victims, but after concentrating to see if she could feel any pain other than her hunger she realized that there was nothing, not even the vague aches and pains that always seemed to follow her even on the best of days.

She threw her legs over the side of the bed, noting with surprise how warm the stone floor was against her bare feet. Granted it had been a long time sense she had been barefoot indoors like this, but she thought she vaguely remembered that floors like this tended to be like ice in the morning. Walking over to the dresser, she looked in the mirror to try and assess just how bad she looked this morning after a night she couldn't remember… only to let out a silent gasp when the mirror continued to reflect the image of the bedroom itself; as though Nao wasn't even in it. _Oh gods, am I a ghost?_ Suddenly the vivid memory of her death in Dracula's cold arms flooded into her consciousness and Nao fell to her knees, wincing in pain as they connected with the hard floor with force. She blinked in surprise… if she were dead, would hitting her knees on something hurt? For that matter, if she were dead could she still feel hungry? _Fuck, I hope not or this day sucks even more than I thought possible and I have lower standards than anyone. Fuck this. If I somehow ended up in hell for some reason, someone is getting shived. _

Her revelation robbed her of the will to stand back up again, so she simply moved her body that was a sudden mystery to her so that she could lean against the polished wood of the dresser, staring into the angry white sunlight. No matter how long she stared into it, her eyes simply refused to adjust, and the fear never faded. She didn't feel her heart beating faster against her chest like it normally would if she was afraid, but even Nao knew that when you were dead your heart didn't beat anymore, so that wasn't really surprising. As she became more accustomed to her continued awareness of her surroundings despite the unavoidable vivid memory of her own death and the familiar but intense pain of her hunger, Nao felt a curiosity rising in her. _What exactly am I? Obviously I'm something or I wouldn't be in pain and afraid._

With that thought, she felt the unbreakable will that urged her to keep hunting no matter how hopeless and pointless her life seemed return to her in force. The fear of the sunlight was still there, but she realized it was like the fear she felt during the coldest nights, the primal knowledge that if she didn't keep moving she would die from its intensity, and as soon as she'd made the connection her fear faded away to bearable levels. _As long as I don't get any closer to it, it can't hurt me._ Feeling more secure that she wouldn't suddenly fizzle out of existence, Nao shifted her eyes to look at her hands that were draped over her denim-clad legs, blinking in surprise as she realized she hardly recognized them. They were still pale and smeared with dirt like they always were, but where before the bones in her wrists and hands had always jutted out sharply, they were now covered in a smooth layer of flesh. In wonder she ran the pads of her fingers over her skin, marveling at how soft it was, no longer the dry and cracked, almost leathery surface she had grown used to. She raised her hands to her face, gasping reflexively when she felt how her cheeks had become filled out and that her hair felt smooth and silky instead of dry and stringy. She tried to imagine what she might look like with her face no longer almost skeletally gaunt, but it had been years since she'd been at a healthy weight and she could no longer remember what she used to look like anyway, having no pictures of her younger self to aid her memory.

Suddenly she realized she could hear footfalls echoing loudly as they moved down the long stone hallway towards the bedroom, and Nao found herself hoping that it was Dracula returning, feeling no fear that at the notion that it could be anyone else. Her feelings for him seemed so complicated this morning. Despite the way he had consumed the very last of her lifeblood last night, she could only feel a warm affection when she thought of him that was so unlike her. Only her mother or Natsuki had ever made her feel anything similar. The thought of her mother made her realize something else, her feelings for Dracula were no longer quite as sexually charged this morning, and though there she still twinges down below as she thought of his hard body and deep blue eyes, the way he had held her tenderly last night and referred to her as his little girl reminded her of all the times she'd idly wished that she had a dad too instead of just her mother.

She found herself rising to her feet and wandering back over to the bed, and smiling broadly when moments later Dracula opened the large wooden door. Her curiosity about her new life further aroused when she noticed the calm, seemingly completely unfrightened young teenager following in behind him. She was obviously around Nao's own age, maybe old enough to be in her first year of senior high school and just like Nao, she had the hard disillusioned look of a girl who had seen too much too young. But unlike Nao who only pretended to be a slut to lure men into a dark alley so that she could rob them, she had a feeling that this girl really was a slut. "This is Aki. I met her when she was on her way home from the arcade last night. She was very interested to… get to know me better so we spent a little time together, but then I thought that you might like her, so I brought her home for you." Nao gave the attractive man a sinister grin as what she had woken up as finally came to her with the most pleasurable clarity. _A vampire. Well, this day certainly got upgraded to my best ever. Oh fuck me. I can smell her blood from here. I've never wanted something this badly._

"You already have a girlfriend?" The girl asked Dracula, glaring at Nao jealously, missing the way that the strawberry redhead was eyeing her like a starving lion staring at a juicy rare steak.

Dracula simply laughed softly at her question shaking his head as he replied in his smooth polite tones, "Now now, there is no need for jealousy my dear Aki, this is my daughter, Juliet."

"Your daughter?" The girl gasped, turning her wide eyes back to Nao and studying her with renewed interest. "Wow old man, you're kinkier than I thought."

Dracula smirked, allowing the girl to keep her misunderstanding of their situation for a bit longer, "Indeed. She likes to play with older men occasionally too, but sometimes she finds the taste of a young girl to be much more… refreshing."

If her hunger wasn't burning so hotly in her throat, Nao probably would have laughed at how witty her Sire was; that strange new word for what Dracula was to her floating into her mind with a sense of rightness. But at the moment, all she could think of was how she longed to sink her fangs into the soft flesh of the girl's neck, where even from this distance she could see the gentle throbbing of her pulse, its steady motion seeming to beckon her closer. She gave the young human her best sex kitten eyes before speaking softly in a pleading voice, "Don't you want to play with me just for a little bit? I'll let you play with my Daddy when we're done."

She didn't bother to hide her victorious grin when the girl eagerly approached her on the bed, wondering with amusement just how big of a slut this girl was when she didn't even wait for Dracula to leave the room before she climbed onto Nao's lap. "Mmm, thank you." Nao giggled girlishly as she nuzzled against the girl's soft warm neck, inhaling deeply the scent of the blood coursing just under the skin. "You smell so good. Do you mind if I have a taste?" She grinned wickedly as the girl moaned and nodded, baring her neck further for the newly risen vampire. Nao nearly felt herself orgasming on the spot when she finally sunk her fangs into a gently flowing vein and the first mouthful of blood splashed hot and thick on her tongue, her face shifting reflexively into its more demonic visage at the amazing feeling of warm blood flowing easily down her throat and easing the burning. She tightened her lover's grip around the girl as she cried out, either in pleasure or pain. Nao didn't much care which one her meal was feeling, both excited her, enhancing her enjoyment of her first meal in her new life.

Dracula watched with amazement and pride as his fledgling sated herself for the first time. He had known the moment he saw her that she would be an amazing vampire, perhaps one day even a legend to rival his own, the very mention of her name able to strike fear and envy in the hearts of humans. Here even in her first act of her new life she proved him correct; where most fledgling vampires were stupid creatures driven only by their instincts, his little one was fully aware of her own actions. Already she had shown some restraint, rather than simply leaping at the food the moment she saw it, she had known exactly what she was and lured her prey to her willingly just as she had in life, in a way so similar to Dracula's own hunting preferences. There was a time for simple aggression certainly, but it lacked elegance and would normally provoke retaliation from humans, who with their modern weapons could be dangerous in numbers, but taking a victim willingly? It promoted fear more effectively, and the humans had a much harder time proving what had happened. Dracula felt a twinge of sadness as he realized his time with his young fledgling couldn't last forever; it was amazing seeing her mortal personality so purely displayed in her new immortal body, finally able to reach its full potential. It made him so proud to think that over the long years it would only be further refined into the most beautiful work of darkness, and he had been privileged to be the one to help her. He shook his head, wondering at how attached he always got to the very few that he turned, unlike some vampires who he knew Sired hundreds of fledglings over the course of less than a century. He would simply enjoy the time that he had with her, knowing already that even among the precious few he had brought with him into eternity that this small girl was his favourite.

MH-BtVS

Sapporo, Japan; midsummer, 2000

Nao was sitting on a soft rug on the floor next to Dracula's large comfortable leather chair in his spacious library, watching her Sire as he read to her from one of the many old classics in his vast collection. Heavy curtains were drawn over the small castle windows for protection against the bright summer sunlight, but sitting here being doted on by her normally ruthless Sire and listening to his smooth beautiful voice as he read, Nao was in no hurry for the sun to go down. She had absorbed so much more human literature thanks to her Sire's fondness for reading to her these past couple of years, more than she ever heard while she was still alive. Learning to read the books herself was still a bit beyond Nao's ability to motivate herself, but she found that her memory was more than capable of retaining all of the important details of each story, and as she heard more she even began to wonder if there was a deeper meaning to some of them beyond just the events that happened to each character. When she asked Dracula he would just smile indulgently at her and tell her that if she thought that there was a deeper meaning, then surely there was. It surprised her how willing he was to listen to her ideas about his old books. He was surely more educated than anyone she had ever met, but he seemed to think that Nao's opinion really mattered. She couldn't remember the last time she had been able to just spend time with someone who cared about her, and Nao found that she loved this part of her new life almost as much as she enjoyed her new ability to hunt.

Even though Dracula now saw that Nao never went hungry, and her new body never got cold, the young vampire still went into the city most nights to hunt her old prey, this time completely unarmed since her prey was no longer any match for her. She never drank from those men, somehow their blood seemed dirty and unappetizing, but she never tired of making them suffer just a little of what she had suffered during life. The fear in their eyes as they realized that she was more than she appeared was more satisfying than ever, even if hunting them was no longer any kind of challenge. Sometimes she would hunt for her own food as well, surprised that she found girls around her age or a little older to be the most appetizing. She didn't know if they really tasted better or if her Sire's preferences were influencing her own, after all the only times she hunted for herself were when she saw a victim that she just couldn't resist the allure of. Most nights she would come home to find that Dracula had brought her a willing human toy to play with and drink from. There was actually a young teenage girl locked up down in the dungeon today for her amusement, but Dracula had been acting strange the last few days and Nao was reluctant to leave his side.

"Hey Dad, why do you call me Juliet?" She asked suddenly, wanting him to look up at her instead of his book, her cold body feeling warm when his deep blue eyes rested on her affectionately.

"Because my sweet girl, your beauty and charm are such that any who love you would gladly take their own lives to be yours forever." He said in a warm, affectionate tone, reaching out to gently run his cold fingers through her soft strawberry red hair, as always enjoying its fine silky texture, wondering at how very beautiful his little girl was.

Nao's lips turned up in a sinister smile, "I see. I like it."

Dracula gave her his own charming smile, "I knew that you would, you are of my blood after all. I am so proud of you."

If Nao's heart were still beating she would have blushed, even still she gave the impression of shyness as she dropped her lime green gaze to study her new black and white Converse sneakers that she had taken from a meal last week, "Thanks Dad."

Seeing his sweet daughter's reaction to his words, Dracula felt a surge of guilt for the things that he hadn't been telling her lately because he wanted to put off the inevitable for himself as well as her. These short years seeing her grow from a weak and bitter human girl and into a joyful and vicious predator had been some of his most rewarding in centuries. Even someone as used to the constant march of time as Dracula found that he was reluctant to acknowledge the inherent quality of change present in all things and all situations; something that immortals must be even more willing to accept, since it would inevitably come to pass. He knew fledglings well enough to know when it was time for them to head out on their own for a while and start to find their own way in the world, and his little girl was already starting to chafe under his constant close care, even if the novelty of his affection for her meant that she hadn't yet realized it herself. But Dracula always preferred for things to flow smoothly, so he would rather the two of them part now for a time than to keep his sweet Juliet with him for so long that she became resentful of the way he protected her when she quite rightly felt that she deserved a chance to prove her own worth. So no matter how much he wished that one of his many abilities included the power to slow down time so that they could enjoy these days together, that were as innocent and enjoyable as any in his long unlife, Dracula instead chose to face the inevitable with dignity. After all, his little girl would surely find him again someday when she was a great and powerful vampire, and then they could once more enjoy each other's company as equals.

He drew in an unnecessary breath and let out a low sigh, wisps of heavy smoke swirling dramatically around his dark frame, "Nao sweetie, I have to talk to you about something." He said finally, feeling his dead heart twist at the old familiar look of suspicion and distrust in her lime green eyes, the knowledge that even after all of this time she still did not trust his love for her surprisingly painful for the old vampire, even if he knew that at least in this one instance she would likely think herself completely justified once he explained himself. "At the end of the summer I will be moving on. One of my many servants abroad has finally been able to locate something that I have been searching for years to find but have been unsuccessful." He said vaguely, reluctant to give her the details of what his search had turned up because he knew she would be terribly jealous if he told her he was leaving because of an intriguing young girl. Nao had grown very accustomed to being the only person of import in Dracula's life, there were many others who lived in his large castle, but they were only servants and Nao was his only daughter. He was often amused over the years at how she would even become jealous of his mortal toys taking too much of his attention away from her, often brutally disposing of them when he was out during the night so that when the sun rose again he would once more have only Nao with whom to while away the daytime hours.

"Hmm. When are we leaving?" She asked expectantly, though he could tell from her suspicious tone that she already suspected his answer.

"I'm afraid this is a journey I will need to make alone." He said apologetically before continuing, trying to reassure her, "But I trust that you are now quite capable of surviving the nights on your own, you always seem to be able to pick targets whose disappearances won't cause too much suspicion among the human population, and yet you still leave enough of a trace to cause them to fear the night like they should."

"I always knew you would want to leave me eventually." Nao replied bitterly, his words of praise for her hardly enough to overcome the almost crushing loss she felt knowing that she would soon be parted from the only person to ever give her a chance to be someone.

"Juliet, nothing could be further from the truth! Were I a god instead of a mere vampire I would surely use my power so that we could stay just as we are for all eternity."

Nao huffed angrily as she stared down her powerful Sire fearlessly, though for the moment she made no move to distance herself from her place close to him, "If you really felt that way you wouldn't leave me. You're just tired of me and you're going to make a new vampire to take my place."

"Darling girl you know that isn't true." He said soothingly, even though strictly speaking he was hoping that he would be turning another on his trip to America. But even if he did, that was a long standing research project of his, not an act of love like it had been for his sweet daughter. No one could take her place. "Of all the girls we have taken since I met you, have I Sired any of them as I did you?"

She again gave the impression of shyness at his words, and he wondered if he had ever Sired another with such intense nuances of emotion. Certainly all vampires were capable of every emotion that mortals felt, but in his experience young vampires in particular seemed to swing more readily to the very extreme emotions; hate, lust or even love, the more subtle ones too much trouble for them to linger on in their haste to foolishly enjoy all of eternity as quickly as possible. _And that is why I am almost ashamed to refer to myself as a vampire these days, so many foolish creatures Sired without the wit to think beyond the basics of their bloodlust; living in the filth of the humans like vermin instead of ruling over them as creatures of our power ought._ Nao looked up at him bashfully through the fringe of her hair that had fallen in her eyes, his willingness to state how special she was to him still a surprise even after all this time, "No. No one else... only me."

"That is because your darkness called to me sweeter than all the others. You are special my Juliet, a true treasure. If you can believe in yourself as I do, I know you will do great and terrible things." He showed her his predatory smile, the smile that made her feel like he was truly her father, "And I certainly expect to hear about all of the fear you caused those humans and the way you've shown those stupid fools who think they are our kin what it truly means to be a vampire. I know you will have so many wonderful things to share with me when we see each other again."

"But Dad, I don't want to be alone again." She whined quietly, huddling closer against his chair as though seeking warmth his undead body could not provide. "You're all I have."

Dracula wondered how he could have let his own inherent selfishness blind him to how alone his sweet girl was, perhaps it was only natural that someone of his ego would want all of the attention focused on him, but really he had thought he was old enough to know better. He smiled slightly, realizing it was as much because of how intense and new her feelings were to him that had made him reluctant to admit to her that she had ways of bringing another into her life. _Oh well, it's not like either of us is getting any older. Telling her now instead of sooner certainly won't cause her any problems. After all, better for her to get used to what it is like to be one of us before she rushed into something that she would only end up regretting._ "You could always make a companion for yourself." He said simply, knowing for certain that she had an unusually sharp memory of her own turning and wouldn't need any clarification.

Nao smiled, her expression unusually dreamy as she remembered their first intimate night together, the fear that she experienced that night long since faded, leaving only the pleasurable memories of closeness and something ancient and powerful passing between them as they embraced each other tightly, willingly giving their own blood to nourish the other. ""How would I ever find someone who would be good enough? You bring me countless snacks, but I couldn't imagine sharing our blood with them. And living with one of them for even a week would be unbearable, let alone an eternity."

"You will know when you find one with a darkness inside that calls to yours. You need not rush things either, take some time and see the rest of your home country. Perhaps in the large southern cities you might find the companion you seek." He explained simply, knowing that any details would be useless, as the specifics of what she was searching for couldn't be explained unless one had experienced it themselves. He held her close when she crawled into his arms, clinging desperately to her Sire, that to her could never be replaced, though the feeling was bittersweet. No matter how happy she would be to see him again in the future, she would never again depend on him as much as she did now, and he very much doubted that such a charming and beautiful vampire would need to walk the night alone for long. Surely at there was least one worthy soul among the sea of humanity to the south who would give everything up to be with her. "Don't cry my sweet Juliet, you shall survive. Indeed you will do more than survive; you will be strong and make a name for yourself. Do you not have my blood running through your veins?"

Nao nodded, rubbing her cheek against the cold leather of his coat that for whatever reason he had decided to wear even indoors today. "You're my Sire." She replied softly, wondering how she was able to cry now over the thought of him leaving her when she hadn't cried once since she lost Natsuki. "I'm going to miss you Dad."

"And I you, but even for immortals nothing can last forever. All must change or we do not grow to reach our full potential." He said his voice heavy with nostalgia. "I know you'll make me proud Juliet."

Nao sat with him for a few more moments, until the thought of their impending separation made her too restless to stay and enjoy the time that they did have before he would leave. Standing up and staring at him awkwardly, she felt bashful again at his knowing look. "Um… I'm hungry. I thought I'd go visit our guest." Nao explained, even though she wasn't really hungry. Still, perhaps her human toy could help her pass the time until sunset. Even if Dracula was going to be leaving her soon, her human never would… Nao smirked at the thought. _I'm sure she wishes she could leave… though she always seems so happy to see me._ Nao thought curiously, wondering if perhaps Dracula was serious in some way in calling her Juliet, if maybe humans really did instinctually want to be closer to her despite the danger to their own health. Despite her general hatred for humans, and her love of causing them fear and pain, she felt a stirring at the thought, after all the humans most drawn to her were the ones she hated least.

Entering the dungeon and catching her toy's eyes she still smiled when the girl eagerly rose to her feet, heedless of the healed over bite wounds on her neck as she ran over to hug Nao: the girl wasn't even chained. She was a sweet girl Nao thought as she returned the hug, licking gently at the dried blood on her pale neck. But even though the girl was soft and affectionate, and smelled and tasted nice, Nao didn't feel drawn to her like she did to her Sire. Perhaps it was as he said, the girl didn't have that _darkness_ inside her, she was simply a weak human who wasn't mentally strong enough to resist Nao's thrall. Nao bit down angrily into her vein, annoyed when the girl didn't even cry out but just let Nao bite her, happily gripping weakly at Nao's body as the vampire hurt her. She hated how it didn't mean a thing. If this girl had her free will back, she would leave Nao too. Her Sire seemed to think that Nao would be fine when he left, but she couldn't imagine that there was anyone who could care for her like he did.

A week later Nao casually climbed in through the third story window of her mother's hospital room one last time. She thought it was strange that even though she was no longer human, she still felt the same urge to visit her mother week after week, but since she couldn't stay in Sapporo with Dracula leaving her, this would be her last visit for a while. She wondered idly if her mother would notice. "My new dad says that even my blood won't turn you back into the woman you used to be, and that's the only thing that I could offer you." She whispered sadly as she watched her forever sleeping mother. She leaned down to tenderly kiss her mother's forehead, brushing long thinning hair out of her face, ignoring the feeding tube protruding from her nostrils. "I love you mom. Even if I want to kill all the rest of the humans crawling around this Earth, if you ever need me I'll be here for you. But for now I need to see what I can make of myself alright? So you keep sleeping. I promise I'll be back to see you." For long hours she sat mostly motionless on her mother's bed, her only movement her hand as she caressed the sleeping woman's hair, waiting in the vain but stubborn hope that she would stir from her long sleep. She sighed when she could see the sky beginning to show grey, warning the vampire of the sun's impending return, but her mother remained the same as always. She choked down a thickness in her throat that felt suspiciously like a sob as she kissed her mother one more time, leaving one last envelope on her bedspread before leaping soundlessly from her window. As she made her way back to Dracula's castle to while away the daylight one last time, she wondered again if she would meet someone in the southern cities or if she really was cursed to wander her eternal nights alone.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I'm really sorry this chapter has taken so long to post. This is partially due to my being horribly sick, but also because sometimes writing just takes a long time. -.- Again, I promise that even if I can't always update as quickly as I would like to, I want to finish writing this story more than anyone actually wants to finish reading it. ~^.^~ Also who did I mark down as the main character of this series again? People are gonna start accusing me of false advertizing. Also: I don't _totally_ hate Reito, he just makes a really excellent jerk when you need one and I can't really help it if he's good at it can I?

_Juliet's Poison_

Mid-August, 2000; St. Peter's High School

Shizuru held her breath for a moment, only the greatest of self control keeping her from letting out a long suffering sigh and revealing her emotions to the other Student Council second years, most of whom would be quick to jump on what they would see as a show of weakness. With deliberate slowness she reached out and took the insulated paper cup with her long cooled mocha from the table littered with various forms, charts, and multicoloured brochures. Her lips quirked up in amusement, Reito's annoyed expression as he watched her sipping what he considered a gainjin's beverage always made her feel a little better.

He wasn't wrong really, as she had picked up her like of the delightfully bitter and sweet caffeinated substance from Natsuki. Being raised by Midori, who had lived most of her young adult life abroad working for the Watchers' Council, meant that the Slayer was hardly someone who thought much about tradition. It was also a small bit of rebellion on her part against her late mother's insistence on keeping up outward appearances at all costs. Certainly she kept that philosophy to a degree, hating to let others glimpse her true emotions. Still a large part of her wished her mother had been less worried about what others thought and more concerned about her own health. Shizuru would have given almost anything to have her mother still alive, gladly bearing any hurtful rumors of her mother being eccentric, or even mad, if they could have spent more time together the way they did when Shizuru was younger. Instead she was left with a constant flow of empty words, meaningless consolations from strangers telling her how much of a lovely and respectable woman her mother had been in life. Sharp, painful reminders each of them, however kindly spoken. Not that her mother didn't have more problems than a simple desire to hold the admiration of others despite the consequences. Indeed Shizuru herself shared the big one, their often disturbing visions, but she felt that anything her mother could have done to find some more happiness during her life would have been better than nothing.

_Of course I'm certainly one qualified to pass such judgments. _She almost laughed aloud at the thought. After all, was she not here in the Student Council room doing paperwork that she hated during the summer holiday? She had even turned down a rather awkward, yet somewhat adorable blushing invitation from Mai to go on a trip with her and Natsuki to visit her father's home, which was conveniently located rather near a lovely isolated beach, to instead stay here and fulfil her Student Council responsibilities. But it wasn't just her overdeveloped sense of duty, or the worry that she would feel out of place around Mai's family that kept her here in Tokyo. There was another reason, a vague but insistent feeling that it was important for her to stay at home.

There had not been any vivid and easily remembered visions since her rather amazing experience with Natsuki in the world between, but there were hints and almost warnings, the things that she had long relied on. She wished that her visions could remain clearer, as they weren't even specific enough of late to distinguish warnings of peril from heralds of coming good fortune. All she knew was there seemed to be an appointment with fate of sorts that she couldn't miss. Still, her dreams weren't quite as tormenting as they had been leading up to the battle to save Natsuki's little sister some months ago, so at this point she found herself more impatient and even curious than worried. She normally enjoyed a more sedate lifestyle than Natsuki could handle, but at the moment she was almost hoping for a demon attack to break the monotony of her week, the boring task set to them seeming no closer to completion than it had been days ago.

The second years always went on their nearly week long overnight school excursion in September, and the well paid Board of Directors in their infinite wisdom thought that it would be good management experience for the Student Council to handle the details of the planning. In Shizuru's opinion the only thing it really showed them was the benefit of being the person in charge so that one could delegate the more menial responsibilities to their underlings. At least they didn't have to actually make reservations with hotels or anything like that, the Board of Directors had to do that part of the planning years in advance. No, they simply had to work out which students would be staying in which rooms, riding which buses, or going on which tour at a specific time, and countless other details. They were a fairly small school compared to some so it wasn't quite the logistical nightmare that it could have been, but it was still dreadfully tedious. Especially since if they as incumbents wanted to get voted into the higher Student Council offices in their third year, they had to ensure that as many students as possible got to spend the majority of the trip with people they were actually friends with. This meant relying on their own memories as well as going through the rosters of all of the various school clubs to try and figure out the optimal placement, and there was also a whole stack of special request forms to go through where students had specifically stated who they wanted to room with. She suspected that the Board of Directors never would have allowed those special request forms if they were the ones organizing the trip, but the Student Council didn't get any say in the matter.

Across the table from her, Haruka let out a strangled growl of boredom, lightly bashing her forehead against the polished hardwood surface with a slight thump. Shizuru smiled inwardly, as always torn between amusement and admiration at how even here in a room full of backstabbing politicians, Haruka always wore her true emotions on her sleeve. Sitting in the chair next to Haruka, just a little too close for polite friends, was the true saint of the day, Yukino, who rested a sympathetic hand on her friend's large shoulder. The mousey haired girl wasn't on the Student Council or even a second year, but she had been helping out with their trip planning all week, obviously intending to spend every moment of her summer holiday with her friend no matter how boring their plans.

Shizuru found herself wishing for a moment Natsuki could have been just as insistent on the same. She giggled in her mind as she thought of how impossible it would be for the often extremely energetic Slayer to sit at this table for hours going over paperwork, and Shizuru suspected that after just half an hour Natsuki would have started entertaining herself by getting into a verbal fight with Reito, or embarrassing Yukino by asking Haruka leading questions about the exact nature of their relationship. She would never truly wish for Natsuki to be quite so needy of her anyway, no matter how much she missed her friend whenever they were apart. After all, one of the qualities about Natsuki that drew Shizuru to her in the first place was her essential wildness; the Slayer was no tame housecat. And it had been her own decision to stay here, even if she doubted that the rest of the second years in Student Council could have gotten through this paperwork without her. The Board of Directors would not really have allowed it to go unfinished to the point that the trip would be cancelled or something equally as dire.

For a moment she allowed her eyes studying the seemingly endless stack of special request forms to become unfocused, the lines on the page blurring as her mind drifted to the thoughts that were really concerning her. _Natsuki..._ These last few months her interactions with Natsuki had been horribly inconsistent. She had found herself reluctant to bring up their shared dream, even though whenever they spent time together she could see the question lurking in expressive green eyes. To her credit Natsuki seemed to sense her oldest friend's discomfort and hadn't asked it aloud, but Shizuru suspected that one reason she hadn't was that Natsuki already knew the answer, that Shizuru remembered. And anyway, these days whenever they met up for their scheduled get together if they weren't in public, and sometimes even if they were, they would almost inevitably end up doing more kissing than talking. It didn't seem to much matter what their original plans had been either, watching movies or going on a walk in the park, it all ended up the same. Even their most recent sparring session with their naginata had devolved into a heated makeout session almost the moment that Midori left the training room to answer a phone call from an old colleague with the Watchers' Council. Only Natsuki's Slayer-hearing had prevented Midori from walking in on them in a rather compromising position, and even then she suspected from the knowing smirk on the older woman's face that she'd known exactly what the two of them were up to. But despite these changes in how they interacted, they hadn't discussed what exactly they were to each other now. Going steady? Friends with benefits? Just two teenagers experimenting with new feelings?

Shizuru had been the main one of them who was avoiding discussing the matter, artfully putting off Natsuki's questions, finding the intensity of her feelings for her childhood friend at best overwhelming and at worst terrifying. The problem was that no matter how often she reminded herself of this, that she was the one who had avoided bringing up the changing nature of her and Natsuki's relationship, there was this voice inside, constantly demanding that Natsuki should be hers with an absoluteness that was disturbing. Her refusal to join Natsuki and Mai on their vacation had probably been also about trying to get some distance from these intense feelings, wanting to at least understand them so that she was the one controlling them instead of vice versa.

"I hear that Kuga is on her honeymoon with that pity scholarship student." Reito commented idly, addressing his words to his new girlfriend sitting at his side, a first year that Shizuru hadn't really noticed until he started bringing her with him to their meetings a few weeks ago. It certainly showed her how preoccupied she had been with Natsuki this year, as the girl's hair was dyed a peculiar shade of teal and cut in a sharp, strangely uneven way that seemed designed to stand out. Shizuru found herself gritting her teeth, his understated honeyed tones grating loudly in her mind, but as he hadn't addressed her directly she held her tongue. He already knew that Natsuki meant everything to her, and if she dignified his comment with any reaction it would only give him the satisfaction of having power over her.

"I think it's a shame that Kuga would lower herself to that level when she was given a chance to be something more by the Fujinos. I guess it just goes to show that no amount of money can change what someone really is on the inside. Don't you agree Fujino-sama?" The younger girl inquired, looking at Shizuru in a way that made her feel like she wanted to just go home and take a shower. She wondered if Reito knew that his girlfriend was only dating him to get closer to her.

"What was that?" She asked calmly despite her anger at their presumption, slowly lifting her eyes from studying the paper in front of her to look at the girl more directly, pretending as though she hadn't been listening to their short conversation.

"Oh, just that we thought it was a shame that all the training and money in the world can't seem to make that Kuga anything more than the stray dog she's always been is all." The girl spoke casually, her words calculated as Shizuru's own always were, but her tone of voice and decidedly creepy smile meant that one would be immediately aware that there were other meanings behind her statement. The girl's rudely direct stare seemed to glint in an unhinged way that made the normally extremely confident Shizuru feel a shiver of intense discomfort, and she tried to cover her disgust by taking another leisurely sip of her drink, as though she were in no real hurry to reply.

Slowly she lowered her cup to the coaster protecting the table, lowering her eyes for a moment as she idly examined the cartoon puppies that decorated the plastic object. In her mind she thought of Natsuki's fierce and beautiful wolf form in the otherworld, allowing the powerful image to restore her sense of inner peace. When she looked back at the suddenly uncertain first year she knew that her eyes were narrowed dangerously, her intense anger flashing in them clearly in ways she would normally never allow, but she was helpless to restrain it. Where Natsuki was concerned it seemed impossible to hold back. "You and Kanzaki-san should not speak about things which you cannot understand." Shizuru replied in a deceptively soft tone of voice, making a point to rudely not even ask the girl's name.

The younger girl must have seen her anger, or at least been a bit unsettled by Shizuru's eyes that took on a more intense unnatural red colour when she truly allowed her harsher emotions some free reign, as her own eyes widened subtly and she backed away from the suddenly much more intimidating Student Council officer, shrinking into her chair like a scolded child. Shizuru also noticed with a mirthful smirk that the girl was also _blushing _and had to struggle to keep from shaking her head in amazement as she realized the twisted creature apparently liked being humiliated.

Reito seemed confused yet annoyed that Shizuru's few words had such a pronounced effect on his usually bold girlfriend as he placed an awkward comforting hand on her slim arm, wondering at how he never noticed how thin and fragile she was under the fabric of her school uniform before. "Hey Tomoe-chan, don't let her get to you. You just managed to find one of Shizuru-chan's weak points is all." He said quietly, though he was unable to keep the bit of anger at his old rival, and he hoped future love interest, out of his voice as he spoke, his pride stung by how she tried to put distance between them with her insincere formality.

Shizuru gritted her teeth, trying to keep the angered growl that Natsuki would have responded with from escaping her own throat. "Oh she ought not let me get to her Kanzaki-san?" Shizuru asked, her tone making it clear that her words weren't really a question, the long day's boredom and years of holding in her anger at the young man's constant insults to her Natsuki finally bubbling over, though she still kept her voice soft and measured in volume. "I tend not to enjoy others knowing my weaknesses, but my friendship with Natsuki is not a weakness. Not that Natsuki needs me to defend her to rich, ignoramus self-aggrandizers. No matter how it might anger and embarrass me to constantly associate with fools who speak of her so harshly, I know that your opinions mean less than nothing to her. As for Tokiha-san, she is a lovely, polite, and kind girl who I am also proud to count as one of my friends. A single kind word from her is worth a thousand of your platitudes, chiefly because I do not find myself looking for the cowardly poisoned dagger in my back the moment she speaks." Even as she spoke her words of anger, her tone of voice remained smooth and unshaken, narrowed eyes now focused on Reito's petulant darker ones. The rest of the Student Council members in the room, even including Yukino and Haruka, were staring at the two old rivals openly now, with many eyes bugged out and mouths hanging open wide enough to easily catch one of their country's infamous hornets. Shizuru couldn't blame them really, she never spoke much or even at all about her personal life when she was here, and certainly had never spoken to someone so harshly, despite the way her tone still maintained a thin veneer of civility.

In one move Shizuru pushed her heavy wooden chair back from the table and stood, never making a sound. Casually avoiding looking anyone in the eye she picked her now empty cup off of the table and tossed it into the wastebasket behind her without looking, slightly amused by the blinks of surprise for her little trick. None of them except Haruka had any idea that their normally calm and sedate colleague was also an accomplished athlete. She could even hold her own against Natsuki when they were both sparring with her chosen weapon, though she knew that the Slayer was constantly holding back the strength of her strikes, she had been pleased to notice that in recent years Natsuki took her much more seriously as an opponent whenever they sparred.

"Now, since I was here and working on these before any of you, if you do not mind I will be heading home." She said smoothly, even if she was in no particular hurry to return to her mostly empty too large home. At least her family's long-time chef, Jun-chan, would be there. Shizuru smiled inwardly as she remembered the times this summer and in the past when she and the quirky effeminate older man would have late night marathons of absurdly melodramatic movies, the two of them laughing freely as they gossiped shamelessly about her family's acquaintances while they did their nails in gaudy colours that Shizuru would never be seen wearing anywhere else. No matter how empty her house seemed without her father or Natsuki around, she would rather be there than here, surrounded by sycophants and plotting would-be conspirators. She did feel a moment of guilt leaving Haruka to deal with them, but her always brave friend at least had Yukino here to keep her sane, and somehow the forceful blonde had a unique ability to just let any of the petty verbal slights or insults roll off of her like water, her open enthusiasm for the noble ideals that Student Council stood for never waning. She gave the two kind girls who seemed her only true allies in this den of liars an apologetic nod before grabbing her plain, light tan messenger bag and walking calmly from the room, shutting the heavy door silently behind her.

Despite her still seething anger, Shizuru couldn't help the involuntary smile that came to her face when after only walking down a fourth of the long hallway, she heard the loud sound of the door behind her being slammed open. The clomping of quick moving, sneaker-clad feet pounding down the hall toward her was almost like a charging bull, before they clumsily slowed their pace just behind Shizuru. The intensity of her anger faded when she felt a large, overly careful hand resting lightly on her shoulder, as though the person reaching for her feared that she could break under a firmer touch. "Shizuru-chan?" Haruka asked in the softest tone she could manage, her voice thick with sincere concern for her old friend that would have been horribly ridiculous coming from anyone else.

Shizuru reached up to gently take Haruka's hand from her shoulder as she turned to face her loyal friend, her slender hand lightly holding the larger one comfortingly, offering Haruka one of her rare unguarded smiles. "I'm alright Haruka-chan, I just needed to get out of there." She said honestly, shrugging slightly because for once there wasn't really any deeper explanation of her actions.

Haruka nodded, her cheeks reddening as they always did when Shizuru expressed appreciation for her friendship. "I just wanted to make sure you knew that I don't agree at all with the things those two idiots were saying back there." For a few moments the husky blonde stumbled over her words before she could continue, "I don't know why I couldn't say anything. I wanted so badly to speak up and tell them to just shut up, but I guess my loud mouth finally learned how to not talk when I needed to the most."

Haruka smiled shyly as Shizuru let out a low chuckle, amused as she always was when Haruka showed how much self awareness she really had. Most people in the school tended to assume that the loud and often tactless girl was completely oblivious, but Shizuru knew the truth was that Haruka really just didn't care what anyone thought. Haruka was always ready to let friend and foe alike know her true feelings, boldly defending what others felt was a horribly naive view of justice, no matter how scandalous that might seem to the budding politicos that surrounded her. "I would never doubt the sincerity of Haruka-chan's friendship."

Haruka shrugged her large shoulders awkwardly, one of her sneakers scuffing against the floor as she again slowly thought about what she was trying to say. "Thanks... but what I meant was it made me angry to hear them talking about Natsuki-chan that way too, even though I know I used to give you a hard time about being friends with her. She's not a bad kid. She doesn't deserve to have people saying things like that about her."

Soft rusty eyes shone with suspicious moisture as Shizuru replied quietly, "Thank you Haruka-chan."

Haruka nodded her head in a firm businesslike manner, even as she raised a normally clumsy hand to carefully brush one of the tears from Shizuru's cheek. "Did you want me to walk you to the bus stop? I can go tell Yukino really quick." Haruka asked, remembering that Shizuru wasn't using her family's private driver so much now that the area close to her home was a bit more built up with high end boutiques and the like, as well as a new small art gallery dedicated to her late mother's work.

"No, that's alright Haruka-chan, I really just want some time to think I guess." Shizuru replied.

"Are you sure?" Haruka asked carefully searching her friend's face, looking for any subtle signs that her friend was leaving too much left unsaid, though she was aware that Shizuru always had secrets. "I don't want to let you head out there alone if you really need someone with you. Natsuki-chan made me promise to look out for you while she was out of town."

Shizuru gave Haruka a teasing smile at that revelation, "My Natsuki must think very highly of Haruka-chan to entrust her with such an important task." She giggled as Haruka just rolled her expressive eyes at the good-natured teasing, nearly immune to Shizuru's odd sense of humour after being her friend for so many years. "Really though, I'll be fine Haruka-chan. It's not far to the bus stop, and you know that I'm perfectly able to defend myself." Shizuru reassured her friend, glancing at a nearby darkened window as she raised her hand to absently touch the black and gold Auryn pendant, knowing that the powerful protective blessing on it made the gift from Natsuki as dangerous to a vampire as any religious symbol. She also had several vials of holy water and a few stakes in her bag, and unlike Haruka she had been on patrol with Natsuki a few times since her first real encounter with a vampire, the Slayer wanting to make sure that Shizuru at least new the basics of how to defend against the most common vampires.

Seeing that her friend was set on leaving alone Haruka finally nodded in agreement, taking a step back and gesturing absently toward the Student Council room. "Well if you're sure. I guess I'll just head back in there and see if I can't yell at those lazy losers in there enough so that we can finally finish all this paperwork tomorrow."

Shizuru giggled, bowing formally to Haruka, "I'm counting on you Haruka-chan."

Haruka watched for a moment as her friend headed the rest of the way down the hall to the large double doors leading to the main campus courtyard. She smiled at how much lighter Shizuru's steps seemed when she wasn't allowing herself to be weighed down by politics that were all pointless in the long run, and she wondered when her friend would stop living her life the way others thought she should and finally start doing the things that really made her happy. Haruka shook her head slightly, her heavy blonde curls falling around her face as she shrugged helplessly, realizing that Shizuru would likely always be a mystery to her. Effortlessly putting her confusing thoughts aside, Haruka turned and headed back to the Student Council room to see if she could get those selfish goons to stop thinking about themselves for ten seconds, and finally start making the changes the people had elected them for!

-MH-BtVS-

Nao let out a small happy squeak as she stretched out her body leisurely, just resting for a moment in the long dark shadow of the imposing white stone church, located on the edge of a quiet school campus. She always enjoyed these moments of watching the world slowly change from a harsh bright paradise that she was forbidden to enter and back into the endless dark playground where she was the strongest kid who owned all the toys. The soft grass felt good under her hands and since she felt no urge to move on, Nao decided to stay here, safe from the last waning sunlight as the dangerous burning orb finally sank below the western horizon, remnants of its glow lingering in the reddened sky. She rolled onto her back to get a little farther from the tiny window in the wall near the ground that she had just crawled out of, after making certain to close it securely so no one would ever notice it had been opened. Smiling contentedly she rested her head on her hands as she gazed up into the rapidly darkening deep blue of the twilight sky, the soft inky colour reminding her of her Sire's eyes.

It had been a month since the night that Nao and Dracula had gone their separate ways, their goodbye almost like a monster's version of a parent sending their hopefully grown child off to college for the first time. Dracula offered her a comforting hug on the rough remote northern shore, and Nao hurried to get out of his embrace so that she could get on her way, giving him a shrugging, half hearted 'see ya', like she didn't even care that she didn't know when she might see him again. She had barely walked a few miles down the beat up road to a small, one train-stop seaside village before she broke down in tears, leaning her back against the rough splintered wood of a rundown convenience store by the train tracks. She stayed that way for a long time, her knees drawn up against her chest and the supple dark leather of her long coat falling around her slim form. Time passed slowly as Nao waited for the last train that Dracula promised her would be leaving from this station in an hour, watching the nearly full moon hanging low in the sky, ignoring her tears drying slowly on her cheeks.

When the elderly shopkeeper stepped out onto the rickety porch to ask Nao if she was feeling alright, it had taken all the young vampire's self control instilled by Dracula to stop herself from ripping the old woman's throat out for seeing her display of near human weakness. Although it certainly helped that the shrivelled, toothless hag hardly looked like she would make much of a snack for the road. Over the next few days she had slowly made her way south through the country, taking whatever late night trains she could catch, her journey made more difficult than it could have been thanks to the short summer nights. During the day and evenings she took shelter from the sun wherever she could, never finding herself wanting for willing victims to drink from. She didn't linger in any one place long enough to draw attention to herself, remembering Dracula's lessons about the best way to deal with humans. Even being uneducated Nao at least knew how to recognize the written names of all the major cities, but she never bothered to check them as long as the train she was boarding was heading south, having no particular destination in mind. A week later she was prowling aimlessly through the brightly lit crowded night-time streets of Osaka and Kyoto.

Nao wasn't really certain what she had been expecting when she set out on her journey, but wandering through those cities overflowing with a sea of humanity like she had never seen made her feel as though she had once more been cast into exile. Hiding from the sunlight in narrow alleyways that were always in the shadows of towering skyscrapers, drinking her fill from lost and drunken looking pretty college students, or her full angry ridged demon form morphing her child's face into something otherworldly as she challenged small gangs of weak, directionless vampires for their territories; it didn't seem to matter. Through all those things the only emotion she could feel was her overpowering loneliness, as though she were the last creature of her kind on earth. The thrill of a hunt, the adrenaline from a good fight, the passion of warm blood willingly offered to her... the ecstasy of taking a life. It all seemed faint, like moonlight trying to filter through the vast depth of the ocean. Was this really all there was to her afterlife without Dracula there to help her find some meaning? An overwhelming sense of 'meh'.

But Nao had been in plenty of situations worse than this before, even if she was human at the time. When a week of scouring countless streets gave her nothing but boredom and a few meals of blood from young partiers coursing with drugs and alcohol that she could barely keep herself from vomiting up onto her victims' faces, Nao decided that she would just cut her losses and move on. Kyoto seemed to have better quality meals walking around than the backstreets of Osaka, but Nao couldn't help but feel that it really didn't seem like a good place to be a vampire with all the temples and stuff, and maybe it was just her but there seemed to be a lot of old tourists around. There were other things in those cities too of course, but the constant aching burn of this emptiness inside that no amount of blood could truly quench seemed to know that it wouldn't find what it yearned for here. She hadn't second guessed her demon's instinct. Nao always went for whatever made her feel good at the time. That same night she was once more on the crowded last train to leave the main station, this time heading northeast to Tokyo.

She almost clawed one of her fellow passengers in celebration when she finally stepped off of the train a few hours before dawn. It was a relief to be away from all those humans crushing in too close to her without any respect, the crowded car making her best glare only marginally effective as she was surrounded by countless meals, each smelling even more unappetizing than the last to her still upset stomach. Hesitantly she stepped out of the station, ducking out of the crowd so she could look out over the large paved entrance area, taking in the bright lights of the steel and concrete jungle rising just a short distance away from the older style brick building. It felt different here. Even if it looked pretty much the same as any other city she'd been to on her journey, with lots of tall buildings, plenty of humans, and the annoying faint feeling of power from a few weaker vampires lurking about... there was something about this place that made it seem different to her. Better than different even.

The two weeks she had spent here so far weren't all that different from the ones that came before, at least not in the events that happened. Certainly the scenery was different, and even if all humans were somewhat edible no two were ever really the same, but until last night the real difference was more subtle than that. There was a constant low pleasant hum just below her hearing keeping her company on her lonely hunts, its warmth lightly touching parts of the demon that even her insatiable hunger never reached. The strange unseen companion of sorts wasn't in any hurry, slowly stringing the normally impatient demon along through small parks dark green with summer, the buzz of insect wings singing around the streetlights. Walking through residential neighbourhoods after dark, silently watching from the shadows as some young children frolicked in the playground as though they had no cause to fear the night. Other nights she went down endless labyrinths of lesser travelled brick-lined side streets packed with the storefronts of countless human businesses selling their wares, though most were not open as she stalked by late at night. Even though she tried to keep her tough vampire streetcred, clad in tight dark leather from modest cleavage to toe, Nao still found her eyes drifting with childlike wonder as she travelled unnoticed among these peaceful and colourful communities within the living beast that was the city. For the first time that she could remember, she was finally able to look at all of this objectively, without the constant ache of the hunger and poverty that drove her during her human life. Familiar less forgiving demons from before her Sire gifted her this new one, that had long made her feel weak, filling her with bitterness and anger in a way her demon's thirst never did.

For a while her wanderings never seemed to lead her in any particular direction, taking her from one corner of the city to another, crossing her own path many times on a strange journey without any discernable pattern. Nao however was somewhat surprised to find that she wasn't in any particular hurry either, after all she had all the time in the world didn't she? And it wasn't like she could starve here, there were plenty enough meals in this place to last as long as this would take.

Then it was as if her act of just letting go, instead of constantly trying to force things to happen her way and at her demand meant that she'd finally passed a test of sorts. She couldn't tell if it was her demon's uncanny instincts or the strangely warm presence guiding her next move, but when she awoke from her daytime slumber yesterday at sunset there was a vague call inside leading her out of the main city for the first time since she arrived and into one of the nicer small communities on the outskirts. She travelled there on the bus with a bunch of tired looking sallarymen, the human driver taking one look at her tight leather, dangerous stare and too glinting teeth didn't bother to question her about her lack of a paid bus pass. She was pleasantly surprised when despite her young and attractive good looks, all of the passengers on this bus stayed as far away from the vampire as space in the bus would allow. Really she'd been impressed by how well behaved the humans were, and found herself wanting to stay in this charming upscale town a bit longer, but had realized as soon as they arrived that it was much too small to keep a vampire well fed if she wasn't ready to make a name for herself.

Almost immediately after arriving she'd followed the strong urge, ending up on a deserted but lovely school campus. This was where it wanted to be, though she could only see a few people hurrying about the picturesque campus, and there weren't even lights on in every building despite it hardly being that late. She did remember vaguely that schools mostly shut down sometimes during the year for various holidays. The vampire's eyes had been immediately drawn to the white church on the edge of the campus, the feeling urged her within. There was a human inside that it wished her to dispose of. Nao had been perfectly willing, even though most vampires were too superstitious to enter any human religious buildings, it wasn't all that dangerous if you watched what you touched and the people you were dealing with weren't the paranoid sort who doused everything in holy water or something similar. Even then she wore leather gloves when hunting to protect herself from the less seriously pointy ways that humans used to defend against vampires.

Nao didn't need to use the thieving skills she'd honed as a human to get into the place; none of the doors were locked. All she had to do was walk in and follow the increasingly strong scent of alcohol down into the basement. Her target turned out to be a tall and skinny old priest, his shoulder length grey hair unwashed and stringy as it laid against his face, and his black robes a wrinkled mess as he chugged what looked like a bathtub's worth of that cheap communion wine that they handed out at these places to try and get people to sit through their services. She stood there in the doorway for a full minute before the man looked up from his wine as though sensing her presence, his bloodshot grey eyes seeming to have a great deal of difficulty focusing on even her general location.

"So you decided to come back for me after all eh Miyu?" The man asked, obviously mistaking Nao for someone else. He didn't seem concerned when she didn't answer his question. "It doesn't matter what you do to me. I'm done for now, even if you just walked away." He added bitterly taking another long swallow of wine, some of the watery dark red liquid dripping down his heavily stubbled chin, making Nao smirk openly at the way he looked like a lame parody of a vampire.

She didn't know how to explain it, but in situations like this the demon inside always seemed to know just what to say. "I don't care that they're after you. I want you to suffer for what you did to her." There was something she needed to know, something she needed him to tell her as she stalked closer, "How do they know already? Are they after her?"

He shook his head unsteadily, "No, she's no use to them now anyway. They want the other one. There was a spy for them here the whole time. I can't believe I didn't notice. Standing in front of me as obvious as a damn ninety foot Jesus scaling Tokyo Tower. They'll be coming for me soon."

Nao barely kept her amused laughter inside despite his obvious distress. This guy was supposed to be a priest, seriously? "I can make it easier than they would." Nao offered reasonably as she moved silently toward the bitter man, "No matter how you treated us before... you still let us go in the end."

He shrugged, "Don't think it's because I cared. It just wouldn't have mattered."

Finally she was close enough to touch her victim, and suddenly she saw the startled expression in his eyes that indicated he just recognized she wasn't who he thought she was. "Ssh," She whispered, easily drawing the intoxicated man back into the minor mild control magick of her vampire's thrall, "It's okay. None of it matters anymore." Her promise was less heavy with the seductive undertones that it normally held when she took a victim. This kill wasn't about her own pleasure, this was something new and different.

After she took the old priest's life, she'd locked the both of them in his office for the day, making sure to leave plenty of his blood on the floor and set up his body near his bloodied letter opener so that it looked like the suicide everyone had likely been expecting from the old drunk anyway. The demon, the strange new presence, and Nao herself were all pleased with the results. Now here she was, lying here in the grass like a schoolgirl so close to her most recent kill, with a strange feeling of anticipation fluttering in her stomach, waiting for... something.

Movement out of the corner of her eye had her shifting her head resting against her arms so that she could get a better look. The sight of a young, slender brunette woman in her tailored business casual walking out of one of the few buildings that had lights on seemed to fill Nao's vision. She wasn't sure at first why the woman caught her attention, as she was much too classy to be compared to Nao's usual victims. She hardly noticed when she'd risen to her feet, quickly putting her gloves back on her hands as she started slowly following after the intriguing human. After a few more long moments of curiously studying the stranger Nao realized what it was about her. The confident, almost regal way that the young woman moved reminded her of Dracula. _Who is this goddess?_ For the first time Nao found herself completely unable to simply approach a human, and so the predator settled for merely following and watching, taking in every subtle movement, the play of the harsh night time lighting on pale skin and the faint scent of her that the vampire could practically taste on the evening breeze.

Nao bristled when she felt the distinct grating of another _lesser_ vampire encroaching on her territory, her eyes widening at the punk's nerve when she saw him stalking onto the path in front of her. Under his breath the pathetic minion was mumbling something about 'this was his chance' because someone was 'finally out of town' but Nao was too pissed off by the blatant show of disrespect to wait to see if the loser's words might have meant anything.

For once the familiar feeling of her face morphing into its fearsome demon form with the pronounced forehead ridges, extra elongated fangs and otherworldly eyes came over her like an old friend instead of the show of impatient weakness that her Sire told her the display was. Her demon's excitement surged through her as she finally allowed it full reign, running on silent feet toward the other vampire. She stopped him cold with a firm hand around his thick neck that instantly brought him down to his knees in a submissive posture, still facing away from her, his own demon instinctively knowing that hers was stronger.

"What the hell?" He sputtered in confusion, his wide golden eyes glancing up into hers hesitantly before quickly looking back at the sidewalk in front of him, unwilling to risk angering the powerful vampire further.

"Are you retarded?" She asked rhetorically, tightening her grip on his neck and watching in boredom as the sharp tips of her black leather gloves began cutting into his skin, causing his cold dead blood to leak lazily down his too pale skin. "That one is _mine._ Can't you smell her? That blood is too good to waste on one meal, and certainly too powerful for _you_." She kicked him hard in the soft tissue of his lower back, the hard tip of her boot causing the pathetic undead to let out an involuntary groan of pain even as he nodded soundlessly that he understood. "Say it."

"Alright! She's yours alright? I don't want any trouble." He said defensively, his face contorted in a mask of discomfort even though he too was still in his true demon guise.

"You tell anyone else in your little pathetic gang or whatever you want to call yourselves that she's mine too. Anyone who defies me will be wishing they were dust."

"Hey, you can't just come in here and tell _all_ of us what to do!" He whined until he felt the sharp tip of one of her gloves actually slide effortlessly into one of the slick veins on his neck still liberally streaming blood, the curling appendage feeling suddenly like spiders crawling under his skin. And he might have been an unholy demon, but spiders still creeped him out. The high pitched noise of panic that escaped his throat would have embarrassed a little girl as he quickly recanted his bold words of defiance, "Aah! I promise, I'll let them know not to mess with you or what's yours."

Red lips curved into a cruel smile, "See... was that so hard?" She asked, releasing him gently with an obviously false show of tenderness, walking around in front of him and kneeling down to look him in the eyes, her own expression tempting and seductive. "I mean it though little newbie, I don't want to see you again." She punctuated her gently spoken words by lashing out at him without warning, her palm open as her hand now crushed against his windpipe. He screamed silently at the sudden excruciating burn of holy magicks against his skin, and when her hand pulled away his angrily red and swollen throat was branded with a large spider, the mark put there by one of the special containers of holy water that the vampire kept up her sleeve, ever the prepared illusionist. Again she gave him her cruel smile, standing and reaching out to ruffle his now sweaty dark hair affectionately, "There, that should do the trick. If any of your friends want one too I'd be happy to oblige."

Without another glance at the suffering vampire Nao turned and saw with relief that the one who interested her was still within sight, to her surprise the young woman was waiting at the otherwise deserted campus bus stop. Even though the brunette seemed to be preoccupied with troubling thoughts, it was difficult for Nao to follow her home unseen. She had to rely on all of the skills in stealth that she had learned over the years, but while she lurked in the shadows watching it took more willpower than skill to stop herself from trying to get closer. Dracula had warned that vampires were demons particularly prone to forming _obsessions_, but she hadn't realized how sudden and overpowering it could be. She couldn't imagine what else this might be.

When they reached their stop, a tiny little village that looked like the middle of nowhere if Nao had ever been there, the vampire was surprised when instead of heading toward one of the many buildings here, the human instead continued farther up the road. They walked silently, guided only by a few faint lights shining through the thick trees and the human's own sense of direction, the human never giving any indication that she was aware of being followed. The vampire's eyes widened when they finally reached their destination, a mansion that suddenly made her think that her maybe Sire's castle was rather modest. She stopped just out of the halo of lights surrounding the mansion, now only following the human with her eyes as her slender form entered the palace through one of the rear doors.

The vampire looked around the place, the lush gardens filling her with another wave of homesickness for her Sire's castle, wondering idly for the first time in days what exactly he was doing right now. Her curiosity was again teased when she noticed a much smaller house nestled against the forest at the edge of one of the large gardens, it seemed dark and abandoned but Nao still approached it, once more indulging her instincts when they were drawn to something. The comparatively tiny house was like one of those paintings of what an old traditional style Japanese house looked like. She'd never really seen one up close before, but it wasn't the appearance that drew her in. Unlike the church, the tiny house was locked up, but she easily found a back entrance that was simple enough for her to coax open without leaving any telltale signs of forced entry.

Her demon was suddenly assaulted with the unpleasant queasy sensation that came with crossing the mystical hearth protection that surrounded occupied private residences, surprised that it was still active when the house looked abandoned. She wondered with confusion why she had been allowed in when no one was here to invite her. The demon's uncomfortable golden eyes shifted to a religious charm that hung above the sliding door, recognizing it as something that welcomed in the souls of lost loved ones, causing a quiver of fear to run through the demon at the thought. The house was quiet inside, most of the rooms empty of any but the most basic furniture and the walls bare of any decorations. Still though, the little house was obviously well cared for as there was no dust on any of the surfaces, and to the more otherworldly part of the vampire the small home was _alive_ in the way that only humans living here could make it.

Hours passed by as the vampire simply stayed, sitting unmoving in one of the small house's darkest shadows, her eyes nearly closed in simple pleasure as she enjoyed the unusual sense of peace and calm, as though there was a god who watched over this place who cared for the feelings of one of the mongrel demons. The soft sound of a door closing in the distance brought the vampire out of her uncharacteristic indulgence in metaphysical musings, useless thoughts based on those more confusing things that her Sire read to her when they spent time together. She blinked in surprise when she noticed the young woman heading from the large mansion down the garden path in this direction, even though she knew a human would never be able to see her here. The pale brunette had changed out of her dress clothes and was wearing simple tattered denims and a faded powder blue t-shirt, her delicate bare feet as quiet as Nao's were while hunting. The way she moved, even dressed so modestly would have made her stand out in a crowd the vampire thought, unable to take her eyes away from this creature who suddenly seemed as though she couldn't be human at all. Although she certainly wasn't anything like a demon as Nao was.

The human unlocked the front door to the tiny house and stepped in confidently as if she owned the place, certainly not an unreasonable notion to the awestruck vampire. Nao found herself withdrawing almost defensively further into the shadows even when the human made no move to turn on any lights, obviously familiar enough with the tiny house to navigate through it in the dark. Then by chance... _on purpose? _The human looked across the room to the place where Nao was lurking, and for the first time the vampire was able to clearly see her new obsession's face. She felt the phantom sensation of her dead heart lurching strangely in her chest when she looked into eyes dark red as the blood that allowed her to survive. Full lips quirked into the ghost of a smile as the human turned away from her, and without another glance continued to walk down a short hall, sliding open the door of a small room at the end of it.

The human left the door to her room open as she set up her futon on the floor, as though inviting _daring_ her unacknowledged guest to watch. Still Nao felt the strange sensation of shyness that she had never been innocent enough to feel when she saw the woman reaching into a drawer in her closet to pull out more comfortable clothes to sleep in. The vampire couldn't imagine what strange modesty had overtaken her that she actually averted her eyes to give her precious stranger some privacy as she changed. A few minutes later the brunette was situating herself on her well worn bedding on the floor, laying on her back with her head resting on a tattered old pillow and a strange lavender stuffed animal held securely in her arms.

Nao watched; that strange nervousness still a powerful sensation as she hesitantly approached the apparently sleeping human, her steps slower and much more cautious than the demon thought they needed to be. Silently she knelt down on the floor next to the sleeping brunette, the predator's eyes drawn to the tempting smoothness of her long neck, the soft cotton of her unbuttoned pastel pyjama top allowing the vampire a lovely view. Her eyes drifted up over the elegant yet strong angles of the sleeping woman's face. Even in sleep, and even though she was obviously so young, Nao could see small lines of worry around the young woman's eyes, and hints of tears recently cried on her cheeks. _Why are you sleeping in the servant's quarters when you're so obviously someone's princess?_ Nao wondered silently, finding her now gloveless hand nearly touching the temptingly warm and soft looking skin before she finally used her iron willpower to clamp down on her urges, lowering her hand back to her side. _Why am I still here?_ She wondered as she stayed there motionless in the dark watching the play of the silver moonlight over her precious stranger's face, heedless of the hours passing or the insistent thirst burning in her throat. That night was the first since she met Dracula two years ago that Nao went hungry.

"_Angels with silver wings, shouldn't know suffering_

_I wish I could take the pain for you."_


End file.
